Golf ball retriever



1957 R. J. DU CHENE 2,802,687

GOLF BALL RETRIEVER Filed April 1, 1954 INVENTOR. 770 I, jzzaezre.

United States Patent GOLF BALL RETRIEVER Roy J. Du Chene, Birmingham,Mich., assignor to Arthur L. Russell, Detroit, Mich.

Application April 1, 1954, Serial No. 420,274 2 Claims. c1. 294-19 Thisinvention relates to holding devices and more particularly to animproved device for retrieving golf balls.

An object of the invention is to overcome disadvantages in priordevices'of the indicated character and to provide an improved devicewhich facilitates the retrieving of golf balls from water hazards andother relatively inaccessible locations with a minimum of time andeffort.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device forretrieving golf balls which incorporates improved means forgrasping andretaining a golf ball.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device forretrieving golf balls that is compact and light in weight; which may beconveniently carried; and which may be easily and quickly secured to agolf club with av minimum of effort and without marring or otherwisedamaging the club.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved devicefor retrieving golf balls that is simple in construction, economical tomanufacture and assemble, durable, pleasing in appearance and weatherresistant.

The above as well as other objects and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following description, theappended claims and the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a golf ball retriever constructed inaccordance with the present invention, showing the same installed on afragmentarily illustrated golf club and applied to a golf ball;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view of the golf ball retrieverillustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, takenon the line 3--3 thereof;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, takenon the line 4-4 thereof;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the golf ball retriever illustrated inFig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the golf ball retriever illustrated inFig. 1, showing the same installed on a fragmentarily illustrated golfclub of a different type.

Referring to the drawing, a golf ball retriever, generally designated10, is illustrated and is shown in installed relationship with respectto a golf club 11 having a driving head 12 and a shaft 14. The retrieveris comprised of a coil spring 16 which .functions to grasp and hold agolf ball 18, and a securing member 20 which functions to secure theretriever 10 to the head 12 of the golf club 11. The spring 16 is coiledin the general shape of a funnel having a reduced diameter substantiallycylindrical portion 22, a diverging central portion 24 and a convergingportion 26 defining an opening 28. The coil is wound so that theconvolutions thereof normally abut the adjacent convolutions and thefree end portion 30 of the lowermost convolution is bent inwardly towardthe axis of the funnel, as at 32. The coil 16 is of such a size as toreceive slightly more than half of the golf ball 18 with theconvolutions of the converging portion 26 lying below the equator lineof the ball and closely fitting the periphery thereof while theconvolutions of the di-.

verging portion 24 are disposed above the equator line of the ball andclosely fit the periphery of the upper portion of the ball.

The securing member 20 is preferably formed of" spring' steel or other;relatively resilient material and is preferably of the cross sectionalcontour illustrated in Fig. 2. The securing member 20 includes. spacedarm portions 34 and 36 integrally joined by a bight portion 38, the freeend of the arm 34 being bent upwardly, as at 40, in order to facilitatepositioning the securing member on the head 12 of :the golf clubl l,aswill be explained hereinafter in greater detail. The free end portionof the arm 36 is return bent as at 42 so thatthe section 44 of the arm36 spacedly overlies'the section 46 of the arm 36 and the end of thesection '44 is bent downwardly, as viewed in Fig. 2, to form a dependingflange 48.

As shown in Fig. 4, an elongate opening 50 is provided in the section 46of the arm 36, the major diameter of the opening 50 being slightlygreater than the outside diam-- eter of the convolutions of the reduceddiameter portion- 22 of the coil spring 16 while the minor diameter ofthe opening '50 is slightly less than the outside diameter of theconvolutions of the reduced portion22. With such a construction, thereduced portion 22 may be threaded through the opening 50 to secure thecoilspn'ng 16 to the securing member 20.

The surfaces of the securing member '20 are coated with a plastic filmhaving a tough resilient impervious surface forming a corrosiveresistant coating 52. For example, the coating 52 may comprise acopolymer of vinyl acetate and vinyl chloride, predominately vinylchloride. With such a construction the securing member 20 may bepositioned on the head of a golf club without marring or otherwisedamaging the club.

In the assembly of the golf ball retriever of the present invention, aportion of the top convolution of the reduced diameter portion 22 of thecoil spring 16 is inserted through the elongate opening 50 after whichthe coil spring 16 is rotated about its axis so that the uppermostconvolutions of the reduced diameter portion are threaded through theopening 50. The coil spring 16 is rotated until the top convolution ofthe reduced diameter portion 22 abuts the section 44 of the arm 36 whilethe convolutions of the reduced diameter portion 22 intermediate thesection 44 and the section 46 are compressed and resiliently engage suchsections so as to prevent relative movement between the coil spring 16and the securing member 20. The coating 52 is then applied to thesecuring member, as by dipping or spraying, so as to cover the surfacesof the securing member 20.

In use, the securing member 20 is fitted over the head 12 of the golfclub 11, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the arm 34 resiliently bearsagainst the top of the club head 12 while the section 44 resilientlybears against the sole of the club head, the bight portion 38 of thesecuring member 20 being disposed adjacent the face of the club head.The shank 14 of thegolf club 11 is then grasped and the club head andretriever 10 are inserted into the Water hazard so that the opening 23defined by the coil spring 16 overlies the golf ball. The coil spring'16 is then pressai downwardly on the ball so that the cam action of thespherical surface of the ball causes the converging convolutions 26 toexpand outwardly to permit such convolutions to slide over the ball.When the converging convolutions pass over the equator line of the ball,such convolutions contract to hold the ball in the coil spring while theend of the, inwardly-bent portion 30 of the coil spring 16 bears againstthe depressions in the surface of the ball to lock the ball securely inthe coil spring.

In Fig. 6, the golf ball retriever 10 is shown applied to head 54 of afragmentarily illustrated iron,'the arm 34 of the securing member 20resiliently bearing against the to of the club head 54 while the section44 of the arm 36 resiliently bears against the sole of the club head andthe bight portion 38 is disposed adjacent the face thereof. After theretriever 10 has been positioned on the end of an iron, a golf ball maybe retrieved in the manner previously described.

While it will be apparent that the' preferred embodiment of theinvention herein disclosed is Well calculated to fulfill the objectsabove stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptibleto modification, variation and change without departing from the properscope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.-

What is claimed is:

1. In a golf ball retriever for use with a golf club having a head, thecombination including a generally funnel-shaped coil spring open at oneend and having a diverging portion and a converging portion adapted toreceive andvresiliently retain a golf ball, and a generally G-shapedsecuring member having a pair of spaced arm portions integrally joinedat one end thereof, the free end portion of one of said arms beingreturn bent and having spaced substantially parallel sections, theoutermost section having an aperture therein, the end ofsaid coil springremote from said open end extending through said aperture andresiliently engaging both of said sections, the longitudinal axis ofsaid coil spring extending in a direction substantially perpendicular tosaid outermost section, the other of said arms and the other sectionbeing adapted to resiliently engage said head.

2. A golf ball retriever for use with a golf club having a head, saidretriever comprising, in combination, a helically wound coil springhaving a plurality of convo- V lutions defining a diverging portion anda converging portion adapted to receive a golf ball, the free endportion of the outermost convolution of said converging portion beingbent toward the axis of said coil and adapted to retain said ball, and agenerally G-shaped securing member having a pair of spaced arm portionsintegrallyjoined at one end thereof, the free end portion of one of saidarms being return bent and having spaced substantially parallelsections, the outermost section having an elongate aperture therein, theend of said coil spring remote from said converging section extendingthrough said aperture and resiliently engaging each of said sections,the longitudinal axis of said coil spring extending in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to said outermost section, the other of saidarms and the other of said sections adapted to resiliently engage saidhead, said securing member being coated with a resilient plasticcoating.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

